TF 16, consisting
of the aircraft carrier (CV6) Enterprise etc, had previously been
called the 8th Task Force and was originally to be renamed the
13th Task Force.
Moreover, as their departure was scheduled for the 13th, the number
and departure date had been revised due to Halsey's protests.
Besides, the
target of the attack was Wake Island, which had been renamed Ootori
Island* after being occupied by the
Japanese, and some argued that it would be inefficient to spend
days sailing to and attacking such a small island 4,000 nautical
miles away.
However, the
fleet commander, Admiral King, feared that the public would accuse
the Navy of doing nothing, so he ordered an all-out check-and-balance
operation against the Pacific Fleet.
This meant also
using the six battleships on the west coast, which could either
match the carrier speed of the 21-knot battleship group or split
into two groups.
However, splitting
into two groups would have meant a shortage of escorts, so Nimitz
considered an attack on this island and the Marshall Islands by
a carrier force.
As a result,
TF 11, led by the carrier (CV 2) Lexington, departed Pearl Harbour
on 22 January.
It was cancelled
the following day, 23 January, when the oiler (AO 5) Neches was
sunk by a torpedo from I-72.
This was because
no other ship in the Pacific Fleet was capable of refuelling the
task force.
With the departure
of TF 16, TF 17, under the command of Rear Admiral F.J. Fletcher
also departed Pearl Harbour.
TF 17 was also
to be used in the attack on Wake, but King changed his opinion
and returned the following day, the 15th.
Nimitz wanted
to keep the carriers available for immediate Japanese response
in the Central Pacific, and wanted TF 17 to be used to guard the
transportation routes.
On 16 February,
TF 17 re-departed Pearl Harbour, but its destination was between
Pearl Harbour and Samoa.
Task force's
first mission was to rescue the transport ship President Taylor*, which had run aground on Canton Island
on 14 February.
On the 22nd,
TF 16 approached Wake, but the weather was poor and remained so
the next day, so the attack was postponed to the 24th.
However, the
Japanese were awake an hour before sunrise.
Tree type 95
two-seat seaplane reconnaissance aircraft (Nakajima E8N) of the
17th Air Squadron departed at 3:30am and spotted TF16 at 4:10am.
The reconnaissance
aircraft spotted a bombardment group consisting of Salt Lake City,
Northampton and destroyers Maury and Balch, commanded by Rear
Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, 215o 8 nautical miles from Wake.
Spruance, who
was also commander of the 5th Cruiser Squadron, also had two heavy
cruisers under his command, (CA 24) Pensacola and (27) Chester,
the former under the command of the 11th Task Force, and Chester
under repair after being bombed by Chitose Air Force ground attack
aircraft when she shelled Taroa, Maloelap Atoll, on 1 February.
Spruance therefore
hoped to attack simultaneously with the carrier-borne aircraft,
but no planes appeared at dawn, so approaching the island from
the west-south-west, Spruance gave up co-operation with the ship-borne
aircraft at 4.30am and began bombarding.
Approaching the
island in a single column of 20 knots, with destroyers in front
and behind, the force fired first on the south battery of Wilkes
Island and then on the north battery of Peel Island for 30 minutes
under the observation of six seaplanes on board.
The position
of the sun on the island extension misled the gunners and neither
the rate of fire nor the accuracy of hits was good.
Furthermore,
according to Japanese records, about 60% of the shells were unexploded.
The bombardment
was originally scheduled to take place before dawn, so it was
intended to dazzle the Japanese by firing from the dark horizon.
The Japanese
counter-attacked and it is stated that shells fired from the northern
battery hit the destroyer and set it ablaze, but this is not recorded
by the Americans.
Japanese seaplanes,
now up to three in number, also carried out slow-drop bombing
raids on Northampton, but these only ended in the scattering of
bombs.
As the Spruance
ended its bombardment and was about to break off, the aircraft
that had launched Enterprise finally reached the airspace over
the island.
The formation
consisted of 37 Douglas SBD Dauntless, 9 bombed-out Douglas SBD
Dauntless and 7 Douglas TBD Devastator fighters, one of which
crashed due to an error in launching and another was lost due
to rough weather.
Unbeknownst to
Spruance due to radio silence, these planes had launched Enterprise
in time for the bombardment, but bad weather delayed their formation.
The attack force
returned by 9.45am, but one Dauntless crashed and the two crewmen
were found hiding behind a reef the following day, the 26th, and
taken prisoners.
The Americans
reported that artillery bombing destroyed three flying boats* on the ground and set seven fuel tanks
alight, causing the airfield to lose its functionality, but they
avoided attacking the barracks, which could have held American
prisoners of war, so there was little human casualty.
In addition,
the bombardment party that broke off to the east of the island
encountered Japanese vessels en route.
These were two
of the 65th Guard forces' three special patrol boats deployed
to Wake at the end of the previous year, the Fuku Maru No. 5 (154T)
and the Mitakara Maru No. 1 (179T).
As these were
merely fishing boats, the battle was one-sided.
At 07:55, destroyers
attack resulted in the bombing and sinking of the Fuku Maru No.
5 and the missing Mitakara Maru No. 1, with Balch rescuing four
of her crew,
they were among the earliest Japanese POWs to be captured in WW2.
*Wikipedia states that Wake Island
was named Ootori Island because it resembles the shape of a bird.But
there are two islands to the south of Japan, Torishima (Bird island
) and Minami-torishima (South bird Island), which were probably
named in relation to this one.
*All attempts to save the ship
from running aground failed and in 1952 the hull was sold and
dismantled in 1954.
*Japanese records show the loss
of two flying boats.
@US Task Force 16 Wake
Raid@
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